Emotional Experience, Expression, and Regulation of High-Quality Japanese Elementary School Teachers

Hosotani, Rika; Imai-Matsumura, Kyoko

Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, v27 n6 p1039-1048 Aug 2011

The present study investigates the emotional experience, expression, and regulation processes of high-quality Japanese elementary school teachers while they interact with children, in terms of teachers' emotional competence. Qualitative analysis of interview data demonstrated that teachers had various emotional experiences including self-elicited negative emotions. The major expression patterns were identified as direct staging and the suppression of emotions. Teachers considered emotion expression in front of children as a skill, and their emotion regulation processes involved considering various purposes, appropriately using emotion expression, and ideal teacher images. The findings suggest that high-quality teachers effectively use emotional competence in teaching. (Contains 3 tables.)